Displaying items by tag: Intercement

Brazil: The Portuguese cement production group Cimpor has announced the merger of two of its subsidiaries in Brazil, namely Cimpor Cimentos do Brasil and InterCement Brasil. Both companies are fully and indirectly owned by Cimpor, which itself is controlled by Brazil's Camargo Corrêa. The merger project received the green light of Cimpor's board of directors on 30 January 2013.

"The merger of these two companies in the Cimpor universe will make it possible to create joint value, promoting synergies, leading to improved operating efficiency and quality of services offered to the Brazilian market," said Cimpor said in a statement filed with the Portuguese market regulator.

The deal to merge the two subsidiaries comes after an asset swap between Cimpor, InterCement and Votorantim that took place in 2012.

Argentina: Loesche, the German producer of vertical roller mills for the cement industry, has been awarded a contract by InterCement in Argentina for the supply of a solid fuel mill for its cement plant in Barker, Argentina.

The Loesche LM 35.3 D mill will be used for InterCement's Barker Coal project and will be used to replace natural gas in the kiln. The solid fuel dry-grinding plant will be designed for the grinding of coal and petcoke with product rates of 45t/hr for coal and 30t/hr for petcoke respectively. The mill's main drive power rating will be 960kW.

Besides the mill, the order comprises the complete machinery of the grinding plant in between the raw coal storage and the pulverised fuel dosification area. Electrical equipment and automation systems as well as the steel structures for buildings will be delivered by Loesche. Complete delivery is scheduled for the second half of 2012.

Brazil: Brazil's second-largest construction group Camargo Corrêa does not expect to have to sell any assets if its buyout of Portuguese market-leader Cimpor goes ahead as it hopes. It expects Cimpor to gain scope and global reach as its unit.

Jose Barros Franco, chief executive of Intercement, a subsidiary of Brazil's second-largest construction group Camargo Corrêa, has stated that the bid price of Euro5.5 per Cimpor share was 'fair' but he would not say if the company would consider sweetening the offer. Portuguese conglomerate Semapa has made a proposal to major shareholders in Cimpor to try to keep it in Portuguese hands by forming a joint holding company. It does not represent a counter-bid.

"We pay close attention to all manifestations of interest, but we believe that our offer is a good opportunity for all shareholders and will subsequently transform Cimpor into a bigger company than it is today, implying a significant entry of foreign investment to Portugal," Barros Franco added. He denied market talk that Camargo had a pre-agreement with another Brazilian shareholder in Cimpor, the country's largest cement producer Votorantim, to split up Cimpor assets, but did not rule out a deal in the future to jointly manage the company.

Analysts expect Intercement to take over the bulk of Cimpor's capital, but say Votorantim is likely to keep its 21.2% stake, which would allow it to carve out part of Cimpor's international business later, avoiding problems with Brazil's competition regulator.

"There is no pre-agreement. We believe that our bid is a good opportunity for all shareholders. Still, we can't rule out the possibility of a future agreement to allow for a better management of the company and addressing competition issues in Brazil," Barros Franco wrote. Camargo holds a 32.9% stake in Cimpor.

"For now we do not expect any asset sales. We are at the disposal of the antitrust authorities to provide all the necessary explanations," he said.

Analysts have previously said that Cimpor may have to sell at least one mill to address Brazilian antitrust regulator's concerns. Votorantim would have to sell various plants. If Camargo Corrêa took over 100% of Cimpor, it would double its market share in Brazil to near 20%, reducing Votorantim's dominant lead.